EP0158325 discloses a jigsaw having (i) a scrolling mode in which an output shaft and jigsaw blade can rotate about a longitudinal axis of the output shaft to enable cutting of smaller radii of curvature or more intricate types of cut than conventional jigsaws in which the jigsaw blade only faces forwards, and (ii) an orbital mode in which the output shaft oscillates about a pivot in a fore and aft direction to assist the cutting action of the jigsaw blade.
In jigsaws having a scrolling mode and an orbital mode, it is desirable to prevent simultaneous actuation of the scrolling and orbital modes, since the jigsaw is difficult to operate when in the orbital mode when the jigsaw blade is not oriented forwards relative to the jigsaw housing. In the jigsaw of EP0158325, this is carried out by means of a mode selection mechanism in which a mode selector is provided with a pinion and a cam surface, such that in an orbital mode, the pinion moves a rack into engagement with a scroller knob to prevent rotation of the scroller knob relative to the housing, while in the scrolling mode, the cam surface prevents pivoting movement of the output shaft of the jigsaw about its pendulum axis. However, this known arrangement suffers from the drawback that the rack and pinion mechanism is of complicated construction and relatively difficult to assemble, which significantly increases the cost of production of a jigsaw incorporating this mechanism.
Another jigsaw having scrolling and orbital modes is disclosed in DEU8702727.5. In this jigsaw, a mode selection knob moves a carriage between an upper position in the orbital mode, in which rotation of an output shaft of the jigsaw about its longitudinal axis is prevented, and a lower position in the scrolling mode, in which pivoting of the output shaft about an axis transverse to its longitudinal axis is prevented. However, this jigsaw suffers from the disadvantage that the carriage cannot be used to simultaneously disable the scrolling and orbital modes, as a result of which a further actuator mechanism is required. This in turn has the disadvantage of increasing the cost of production of the jigsaw and making the jigsaw less easy to use.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above disadvantages of the prior art.